Double bobbin coil winder

ABSTRACT

A double bobbin coil winder having one bobbin in fixed position and another movable along its own axis from a winding position with its flanges parallel and aligned with the flanges of the fixed position bobbin to an unloading position axially offset from the winding position.

United States Patent 1191 Maillefer i 1 Apr. 23, 1974 [5 DOUBLE BOBBIN COIL WINDER 3,098,621 7/1963 Nelson et al 24/25 A 3,684,202 8/1972 Otani et al. 242/25 A [75] Invent Chimes Manefer Renens 3,693,898 9/1972 0mm 242/25 A Swltzerland 3,695,525 10/1972 0mm 242/ A [73] Assignee: IvaiIQefe; S..A., lRerciiens (Canton Of FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS wltzer 1,323,287 2/1963 7 France 242/25 A [22] Filed: Mar. 20, 1972 832,651 2/1952 Germany 242/18 A [2]] Appl' 236316 Primary Examinef-Stanley N. Gilreath Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Stevens, Davis, Miller (SC Foreign Application Priority Data Mosher Apr. 20, 1971 Switzerland 6419/7] [52] US. Cl 242/25 A [57] ABSTRACT 51 Int. Cl Bh 54/02 A double bobbin coil winder having one bobbin in [58] Fi d of S 242/25 A, 25 1 A, 1 R, fixed position and another movable along its own axis 242 79 53 from 'a winding position with its flanges parallel and aligned with the flanges of the fixed position bobbin to [56] References Cited an unloading position axially offset from the winding UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,913,191 11/1959 Nelson 242/25 A 4 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures 1 DOUBLE BOBBIN con. WINDER Double-bobbin coil-winders are frequently madeuse of at the terminals of production lines, of facilities for wire drawing, insulating, sheathing, testing or control, such being designated hereafter by the term line. For reasons of efficiency and ease of processing, it is often desirable'to work without interruption, that is, without having to stop the .line in .order :to fasten the thread-like component to the new :bobbin when the previous one has been filled.

Generally, for double-bobbin coil-winders made to function continuously, the two bobbins are coaxial and placed end to end, or else they are arrayed so that their axes are parallel, each bobbin face being in the same plane as the corresponding face of the other bobbin. Feeding the wire or cable from the line'to the coilwinder is simpler in the latter case than in the former because one does not have to deal with one or several angles." Coil-winding dynamics is easier to meet and if the wire or cable being wound onthe bobbins is ing are reduced. The wire arrives directly and in a straight line from the line at the coil-winder, moving along a'direction perpendicular to the bobbin axes,

bobbins.

However, up-to-date known facilities comprising par-.

alleI-bobbin coil-winders require more space than those with coaxial bobbin coil-winders, since two tracks for bobbin loading and unloadingmust be provided on either side of the coil winders and furthermore the handling means are more complex.

Also, it is necessary so to guide the thread-like element to be wound that it is sufficiently raised as to pass above the site of loading and unloading of the bobbin support which is near'the line. Also one must provide sufficient space for removing the full bobbins and for bringing in the empty ones.

On the other hand, when the coil-winder is .of the coaxial-bobbin type, the bobbins maybe loaded and unloaded on'the side opposite the production line, and this simplifies bringing in and removing the "bobbins and also the wire guiding facilities between line and coil-winder.

' The arrows in FIGS. 1 and 2 show the differences between those two types of coil-winders.

The goal of the invention is to achieve a doublebobbin coil-winder providing the same convenience in wire-guiding as the parallel-bobbin coil-winders but for which loading and unloading of bobbins is met by simpler handling and which requires less space than such coil-winders require as are already known.

To. that end, the present invention is directed to a double-bobbin coil-winder for thread-like components that will wind continuously and comprises two bobbin supports each equipped with bobbin pivoting means in which the axes of said pivoting means are parallel to each other. A transfer scheme ensures hooking up an empty bobbin placed on one of the supports to the coilwinder the moment when the bobbin on the other support is full, without therefore interrupting the winding of said component. The invention is characterized by one of the bobbin supports being movable in the direction of itsaxis, so that it may be laterally displaced, to-

sheathed, the risks of damaging the sheath during wind- 2' gether with the bobbin, when the other one is being wound. v

FIGS. 1 and 2 I schematically show two kinds of known coil-winders and FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic top view of an embodiment of the coil-winder according to the invention.

FIG. 3 shows a frame 1 upon which is fastened a transfer device 2.

This frame comprises two horizontal rails 3 and 4 allowing the traverse pulley 6 to move lengthwise from one end to the other. Transfer devices and means for moving the traverse pulley are conventional as shown in U. S. Pat. No. 3,098,621 and French Pat. No. 1,323,287. Transfer device 2 is shown in the drawing as being combined with a reducing device which, in another embodiment, however, might be separate. Traverse support S'may also be fastened on a pivoting arm. Frame 1 is so-elevated that it allows two bobbin supports 7 and 8 to be housed underneath it. These diagrammatically shown bobbin supports each comprise two flanges 9 10 for support 7'and (flanges) 1 l, 12 for support 8. These flanges support coaxial bearings in which rotate shaft elements 13. Driving and centering plates 14 are fastened to the ends of the shaft elements. These plates are meant to gripthe external faces of flanges 15 of both bobbins l6 and 17. Flanges 9 and 10 may be separated from or brought nearer one another so. as to permit assembly of bobbin 1.6 between plates 14. Support 7 is fastened underneathframe 1 the common axis of its two shafts 13 being horizontal and normal to the direction of rails 3 and 4. On the other hand support 8 is fastened on a carriage the rollers 21 of which roll on transverse rails Band 19 with the latter being approximately at ground level and perpendicular to rails 3 and 4. The carriage bearing support 8 may move between the position indicated by dot-dash lines-which is the winding position-and the position shown in solid lines-which is the loading and unloading position. The motors (not shown) driving bobbins 16 and 17 during winding are ganged to each of these bearing supports 10, 11. Thus the motor driving the bobbin on the movable support 8 moves along with that Y bobbin when the support is brought to the loading and unloading position.

Support 8 is shown in the drawing in solid lines in its loading and unloading position. Shafts 13 may be axially moved by the action of jacks. The shafts are in a of shafts 13 or else a device for moving shafts 13 upwards so as to fetch the ground-level bobbins.

To move the carriage bearing support 8 within the winding position shown'in dot-dash lines and the loading and unloading position shown in solid lines, one may for instance providea jointed chain system or a cable system, driven by a gear-train motor. The motor then is ganged to the carriage or one may use any other suitable means. The displacementis sufficiently rapid.

so that when the winding of the bobbin on the movable support is terminated, the operations involving moving the carriage, releasing and evacuating the full bobbin and emplacing an empty one, and returning the carriage into winding position, may occur before the other bobbin is full. I I

Diagrammatically and by dot-dash lines, the drawing shows the arrival of a thread-like element such as a wire or a sheathed cable from a line near movable support 8 and along a direction parallel to rails 3 and 4. The wire 20 thus arrives directly from the production line, Without being bent. However, in another embodiment, a pulley with a vertical axis could be provided above the left end of the frame 1 in order that the thread-like element can arrive from a direction parallel to the rails 18 and 19 and not to the rails 3 and 4.

Clearly, for the coil-winder shown in the drawing, the

removal of the bobbins will take place in accordance with the arrows. The bobbin arrival and departure path is shortened and simplified with respect to the arrangement of FIG. 2. Further, no bobbin is to be moved in the spacebetween the coil-winder and the production line, so that the coil-winder may approach the production line and therefore one achieves lesser space requirements.

It has been noted that the arrangement described above allows not only reduction of space requirements, but also a decrease in handling time.

Several lines of several coil-winders of the kind described above may be placed side by side, wire arrivals occurring all parallel to arrival 20. In such a case, the linesmay be located one .very near the other. Bringing in and removing the bobbins may then be engineered.

In another embodiment, the two bobbin supports maybe moved along the bobbin. axis.

What is claimed is: I 1. A double bobbin coil-winder for thread-like ele ments, for'continu'ous winding, comprisingtwo bobbin supports each provided with a pair of rotatable coaxial shafts for supporting and driving one bobbin, the axes of both pairs of shafts being parallel, and a transfer device ensuring the start of winding for an empty bobbin mounted on one of the supports at the instant when the bobbin on the other support is full, without interrupting the winding of said elements, the improvement that comprises means mounting one of the bobbin supports for movement along the direction of the axis of said shafts in such fashion as to allow its own lateral dis. placement together with the bobbin it is supporting, during the winding of the other bobbin.

2. A coil-winder according to claim 1, characterized in that the movable bobbin support is mounted on a carriage which may move on at least one rail parallel to the bobbin axes, between a winding position in which the flanges of the bobbin it is supporting are located in the same plane as one of the flanges-of the bobbin supported by the other. support, and a loading and unloading position in which the bobbin it supports is entirely laterally shifted with respect to the other bobbin support. l

3. A coil-winder according to claim-1, characterized in that the movable support is provided with a motor for driving the bobbin.

4. A coil-winder according to claim 1, characterized in that the transfer device is located above the bobbinsupports in such fashion it may shift in a sense perpendicular to the bobbin axes. 

1. A double bobbin coil-winder for thread-like elements, for continuous winding, comprising two bobbin supports each provided with a pair of rotatable coaxial shafts for supporting and driving one bobbin, the axes of both pairs of shafts being parallel, and a transfer device ensuring the start of winding for an empty bobbin mounted on one of the supports at the instant when the bobbin on the other support is full, without interrupting the winding of said elements, the improvement that comprises means mounting one of the bobbin supports for movement along the direction of the axis of said shafts in such fashion as to allow its own lateral displacement together with the bobbin it is supporting, during the winding of the other bobbin.
 2. A coil-winder according to claim 1, characterized in that the movable bobbin support is mounted on a carriage which may move on at least one rail parallel to the bobbin axes, between a winding position in which the flanges of the bobbin it is supporting are located in the same plane as one of the flanges of the bobbin supported by the other support, and a loading and unloading position in which the bobbin it supports is entirely laterally shifted with respect to the other bobbin support.
 3. A coil-winder according to claim 1, characterized in that the movable support is provided with a motor for driving the bobbin.
 4. A coil-winder according to claim 1, characterized in that the transfer device is located above the bobbin supports in such fashion it may shift in a sense perpendicular to the bobbin axes. 